Disney plans first Middle East theme park in Abu Dhabi
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Walt Disney is planning a theme park in Abu Dhabi, its first in the Middle East, in partnership with state-backed Miral Group, as it targets increasingly affluent consumers in the region.
Bob Iger, Disney chief executive, said the Abu Dhabi park would be within reach of “hundreds of millions of people” with disposable income who lived too far to easily reach its other parks.
“The best way to reach those people was to bring our product to them,” Iger said. “It is distant enough from our other locations so that we don’t view this to be in any way cannibalistic to the places where we already operate.”
The news came as Disney shares surged close to 10 per cent after the group boosted its outlook for the financial year. It credited price increases for its streaming services and strong attendance at its US theme parks for pushing earnings above Wall Street’s expectations last quarter.
Disney will design and operate the new park, its seventh, and will be paid royalties by Miral, an Abu Dhabi state-owned developer that will also provide all the capital.
The park will be located on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. Miral has a mandate to develop the previously desert district, which Disney says will draw travellers from across the Middle East and Africa, India, Asia and Europe.
For many potential Disney park visitors, it is much simpler to obtain a visa from the United Arab Emirates than Europe or the US, where several of Disney’s resorts are located.
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi wants to attract tourists and already has Sea World and Warner Bros theme parks, which also belong to Miral, along with the Louvre and Guggenheim museums. It will be Disney’s first new park since Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016.
Iger in 2023 outlined a 10-year, $60bn investment in its experiences business, which will also include major expansions in its parks in Florida and California. No opening date for the new park has been announced.
Disney on Wednesday forecast a strong performance for the rest of its financial year across its entertainment, sports and theme park business. But the company also warned that “uncertainty remains in the operating environment” as questions swirl in the market about the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Disney boosted several of its guidance metrics, with Iger saying: “Overall, we remain optimistic about the direction of the company and outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year.”
The group swung to net income of $3.28bn in its second quarter from a loss of $20mn a year earlier, beating Wall Street expectations for $1.88bn, as revenues rose 7 per cent to $23.6bn. Adjusted earnings of $1.45 a share were up 20 per cent from 12 months ago and topped analysts’ forecasts for $1.20 a share.
Despite recent concerns about belt-tightening by US consumers, Disney’s theme parks in Florida and California performed well, with revenue rising 9 per cent from a year earlier. Guest spending at its US parks rose, while its cruise business grew following the launch of the Disney Treasure cruise ship at the start of 2025.
In its international markets, attendance fell at Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Price increases at Disney+ and Hulu pushed the company’s streaming revenue up 8 per cent from a year earlier, though the company said it expected only “modest increases” in subscribers in the current quarter. Combined, the two services have about 180mn subscribers.
Disney shares had fallen more than 17 per cent since January prior to Wednesday’s bounce.
